December 7th - What You Do Matters

Every December 7th, my wife and I pause to consider that what we do matters.

Together, we served four tours of duty in Pearl Harbor Hawaii.?We saw firsthand the impact of December 7, 1941.?We were fortunate to listen to stories of survivors and those who fought the War in the Pacific, men like my grandfather and her grandfather in the picture. ?

We met Arizona survivors and other men and their families from battleship row.?We participated in burials of Sailors identified from Oklahoma and met with families of Utah survivors who returned to Pearl Harbor to spread the ashes of their family member into the waters of Pu’uloa.?

We had the honor to meet Chief Ray Emory, a USS Honolulu Sailor who returned fire on December 7th and forever carried a 50-caliber shell casing with him.?Before his final aloha and along with hundreds of Pearl Harbor Sailors, we celebrated Ray’s life at Bravo Pier 21, the same pier where he manned his gun.?

We became friends of Ambassador Koichi Ito and his wife Misako and laid wreaths together with them on Ford Island to commemorate all those who gave their lives in the Pacific.

It followed that we served our final tour of duty in Japan, and there too we saw firsthand, at ground zero, the impact of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.?We toured both Peace Memorial Museums and listened to the stories of the survivors and those who rebuilt their nation. ?

We participated in events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan.?I had the honor to meet former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and say something (I honestly can’t remember what) that made him laugh.

And so, today I work for a company called Atkins Nuclear Secured, residing in the Tri-Cities of Washington State, near the Hanford Nuclear Site.?I joined our company because I believe in what we do and the values we represent.?Part of what we do is work for the Department of Energy, bringing clean up and closure to the legacies of the last century, legacies such as plutonium production for the weapon dropped on Nagasaki, made here at Hanford. ?

Being a part of the Tri-Cities community has felt like homecoming since the day we arrived from Japan, like a natural extension and then closure of our previous Navy service.

Where you choose to work, what you choose to do should matter, and it should make a difference…no different than the work of our grandparents and the work of those who rebuilt their nation. ?

December 7th is too important to be forgotten.?It’s more than a date that lives in infamy, it’s a date that should echo in eternity.